Joe Biden Is Certified As The 46th President Of The United States

After a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to evacuate and disrupting the proceedings, Congress rejected Republican challenges to Mr. Biden’s Electoral College victory.

Congress confirmed President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory early Thursday morning, hours after a mob of loyalists urged on by President Trump stormed and occupied the Capitol, disrupting the final electoral count in a shocking display of violence that shook the core of American democracy.

There was no parallel in modern American history, with insurgents acting in the president’s name vandalizing Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, smashing windows, looting art and briefly taking control of the Senate chamber, where they took turns posing for photographs with fists up on the dais where Vice President Mike Pence had just been presiding.

By the time the Senate reconvened late on Wednesday evening, hours after lawmakers had been evacuated from a Capitol overrun by rebels carrying pro-Trump paraphernalia, one of the nation’s most polarizing moments had yielded an unexpected window of solidarity. Republicans and Democrats locked arms to denounce the violence and express their determination to carry out what they called a constitutionally sacrosanct function.

“To those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today, you did not win,” Mr. Pence said in a sharp break from Mr. Trump, who had praised the mob. “Violence never wins. Freedom wins. And this is still the people’s house.”

Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, said the “failed insurrection” had only clarified Congress’s purpose.

“They tried to disrupt our democracy,” he said. “They failed.”

The upheaval unfolded on a day when Democrats secured a stunning pair of victories in runoff elections in Georgia, winning effective control of the Senate and the complete levers of power in Washington. And it arrived as Congress met for what would normally have been a perfunctory and ceremonial session to declare Mr. Biden’s election.

The siege was the climax of a weekslong campaign by Mr. Trump, filled with baseless claims of fraud and outright lies, to try to overturn a democratically decided election that he lost.

“We gather due to a selfish man’s injured pride, and the outrage of supporters who he has deliberately misinformed for the past two months and stirred to action this very morning,” Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah and the 2012 presidential nominee, said after the chamber reconvened. “What happened here today was an insurrection incited by the president of the United States.”

Wednesday evening, Mr. Biden, seeking to tamp down the anarchy that Mr. Trump stoked with angry language just hours earlier, Mr. Biden urged rioters to abandon what amounted to an armed occupation of the House and Senate. The president-elect denounced Mr. Trump’s refusal to graciously accept defeat, and suggested that the president was to blame for the violence.

“At their best, the words of a president can inspire,” Mr. Biden said. “At their worst, they can incite.”

Far from discouraging confrontation, Mr. Trump had encouraged his supporters earlier Wednesday to confront Republican lawmakers going against him to side with the Constitution.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/electoral-vote?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur#after-a-day-of-chaos-congress-certifies-joe-bidens-election-victory

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Twitter And Facebook Lock Donald Trump's Account After Violence On Capitol Hill

Twitter and Facebook on Wednesday locked the accounts of President Donald Trump, which prevents him from posting messages to his more than 88 million followers on Twitter and 35 million followers on Facebook, after he published a string of inaccurate and inflammatory tweets on a day of violence in the nation’s capital.

The moves were an unprecedented rebuke of Trump by the social media companies, which have long been megaphones for the president.

Twitter said Trump’s account would remain locked for 12 hours and the ban could be extended if several of his tweets that rejected the election results and appeared to incite violence were not deleted. Trump’s account will be permanently suspended if he continues violating Twitter’s policies against violent threats and election misinformation, the company added.

Twitter said that the risks of keeping Trump’s commentary live on its site had become too high. “Our public interest policy — which has guided our enforcement action in this area for years — ends where we believe the risk of harm is higher,” a spokesman said.

Facebook later followed by barring Trump from publishing on the social network for 24 hours after finding that he had violated the company’s rules with two posts, a Facebook spokesman said.

The actions followed a torrent of criticism aimed at social media companies for their role in spreading misinformation and being a bullhorn for Trump as a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol building Wednesday and halted the certification of Electoral College votes.

For years, Trump had built his influence with posts on Twitter and Facebook. Since losing November’s election, he had used the platforms to challenge the election results and call them fraudulent.

On Twitter on Wednesday, users called for the company’s chief executive, Jack Dorsey, to take down Trump’s account. Civil rights groups said action by social media companies against calls for political violence was “long overdue.” Even venture capitalists who had reaped riches from investing in social media urged Twitter and Facebook to do more.

“For four years you’ve rationalized this terror. Inciting violent treason is not a free speech exercise,” Chris Sacca, a tech investor who had invested in Twitter, wrote to Dorsey and Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg. “If you work at those companies, it’s on you too. Shut it down.”

Twitter, Facebook and others had previously resisted cracking down on Trump’s posts and other toxic content, saying that the posts were in the public’s interest. While the platforms had started taking more steps against political misinformation in the months before the election, they declined to remove Trump’s messages and instead took half measures, such as labeling his posts.

So when violence broke out in Washington on Wednesday, it was, in the minds of longtime critics, the day the chickens came home to roost for the social media companies. After the onslaught of criticism began, Twitter and Facebook started removing several of Trump’s posts from their sites, including one where the president falsely said that “a sacred landslide election victory” had been “unceremoniously & viciously stripped away.”

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube said Wednesday that they were reviewing the situation and would not tolerate calls for violence on their sites. In a statement, Twitter said it would take action against tweets that violated its policies and was “exploring other escalated enforcement actions.”

YouTube also said on Wednesday that it would not tolerate calls for violence on their sites. The video site said it removed multiple live streams that showed participants storming the Capitol building carrying firearms. It also said it would elevate authoritative news sources on its homepage, in search results and in recommendations.

Zuckerberg, said in an internal memo to employees that he was “saddened by this mob violence,” according to a copy reviewed by The New York Times. He said Facebook had stepped up the moderation of Trump’s comments because the situation was “an emergency.”

“The peaceful transition of power is critical to the functioning of our democracy, and we need our political leaders to lead by example and put the nation first,” Zuckerberg wrote.

Trump also told his supporters to go home in a video that he posted on multiple social media sites Wednesday afternoon. “You have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order,” he said, while repeating false claims that the election had been stolen from him.

Twitter later removed three tweets, including the video and the tweet by Trump inaccurately claiming a “sacred landslide election victory” before locking his account. YouTube also deleted the video, as did Facebook, which also took down the misleading post by Trump on the “election victory.”

Critics said the moves by Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were too little, too late, after calls for violence and plans for protests had already spread on the platforms.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/twitter-locks-donald-trumps-account-after-violence-on-capitol-hill-7136107/lite/

China Goes Online To Mock "Beautiful Sight" Of US Capitol Chaos

China’s internet erupted in mirth at America’s troubled democracy after supporters of President Donald Trump broke into the US Capitol, comparing the chaos to the Hong Kong anti-government protests of 2019. On Thursday morning, state media tabloid Global Times tweeted side-by-side photo comparisons of Hong Kong protesters occupying the city’s Legislative Council Complex in July 2019 with Wednesday’s Washington riots. The latter saw hardcore Trump fans invade the US Capitol to protest the election defeat, taking selfies, scuffling with security and ransacking parts of the building. “@SpeakerPelosi once referred to the Hong Kong riots as ‘a beautiful sight to behold’,” the Global Times said in the tweet, referring to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s June 2019 comment about Hong Kong’s mass pro-democracy demonstrations, which were mostly peaceful at that time. “It remains yet to be seen whether she will say the same about the recent developments in Capitol Hill.” China’s Communist Youth League also described the unrest as a “beautiful sight” on the Twitter-like Weibo platform. The hashtag “Trump supporters storm US Capitol” pinballed across Weibo on Thursday, racking up 230 million views, as users compared the global support for Hong Kong’s protesters with the outpouring of condemnation for the pro-Trump mob. “At present, all European countries’ leaders have shown double standards and condemned it (Washington rioting),” read one Weibo comment which gained over 5,000 likes. “I don’t know what kind of double-standard reports will be carried by Hong Kong or Taiwan media this time.” “What happened in the Hong Kong Legislative Council last year is being repeated in the US Capitol,” wrote another user in a comment with over 4,500 likes. Hong Kong protesters had stormed the legislature to demand democracy — a battle they appear to have lost as China smothers the territory with a national security law, sweeping oppositions figures and activists up in mass arrests. US President-elect Joe Biden said the US rioters were undermining democracy by trying to overturn Trump’s defeat in November’s election. [AFP] https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/01/china-goes-online-to-mock-beautiful-sight-of-us-capitol-chaos/ 6 Likes 5 Shares

UNICAL Graduate Serving In Ebonyi Dies On His Way To Final Clearance (Pics)

From what friends and classmates posted, Jude Umoh who is a graduate from the University of Calabar and was serving in Ebonyi state involved in accident and lost his life while going for clearance. This is so sad, disheartened and traumatized after all the efforts put to get him through school. Sad indeed!

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Former Nigerian Footballer, Christian Chukwu Is 70 Today

Enugu State celebrates Christian Chukwu at 70

The Enugu State government has congratulated the iconic former Nigerian international football player and national coach, who is an illustrious son of the state, Chairman Christian Chukwu, on his attainment of 70 years.

In a statement, the Enugu State Commissioner for Information, Nnanyelugo Chidi Aroh, said that the government and the people of the state are "indeed very proud of the immesurable contributions of this great son of Enugu State to the development of the game of football both locally and internationally".

Aroh added that "we recall with great delight the numerous contributions of Christian Chukwu to the game of football including leading the Nigerian National team, The Green Eagles, as Captain to win their first ever African Nations Cup in 1980".

The Information Commissioner pointed out that "Christian Chukwu also had an outstanding career as coach of various National teams, including Nigeria, Kenya and Lebanon" remarking that "his (Chukwu's) performance at various times as player, coach and manager of Enugu Rangers International FC is indeed unparalleled".

"As we join his family, friends and the entire football family worldwide in celebrating this football icon, we beseech the Almighty God to grant him good health of mind and body", Aroh said.

Enugu State is in the hands of God!
#amokelouis

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1350318938645001&id=100010007227700

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Zoning Controversy: Why APC Presidential Primary Will Be Open To All Aspirants

The ruling All Progressives Con­gress (APC) on Wednesday said all eligible aspirants from the Northern part of the country will not be barred from participating in the party’s presidential primaries scheduled for 2022 even if the ticket is zoned to the South.

There has been raging controver­sy in the party over zoning formula following attempts by some power blocs to ensure that the presiden­cy remained in the North in 2023 after the completion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year tenure in 2023.

Leading party chieftains, which include Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi; his Works and Housing counterpart, Baba­tunde Fashola (SAN); Are­mo Olusegun Osoba, former Ogun State governor; former Zamfara State governor, Sen­ator Sani Yerima and Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, represent­ing Kano Central, have started taking position on the matter.

While Amaechi backed Fashola who had earlier said the party had a gentleman’s agreement on zoning, and urged APC to respect the zon­ing agreement, Shekarau said rotational presidency is alien to the party as it is not in the APC constitution. On his part, Yerima said the APC had no pre-merger agreement to rotate the presi­dency between the North and the South.

Osoba on Tuesday said there was a gentleman’s agreement during the 2013 merger talks that the presi­dency would rotate between the North and the South.

Even though President Buhari is yet to speak on the controversy, his nephew Mamman Daura in an inter­view had said Nigeria should consider competence and merit in the choice of the next president instead of zoning.

Even though many Nigeri­ans said Daura spoke the pres­ident’s mind, the presidency distanced itself from Daura’s position, saying his views do not represent the position of President Buhari or that of his administration.

However, speaking with Daily Independent on Wednes­day, a member of the APC National Caretaker Commit­tee, said though the party is yet to take a position on the issue, the body language of many leaders of the party is that “it will be fair to zone it to the South in the spirit of justice, fairness and equity”.

He said even if the party’s ticket is zoned to the South, eligible aspirants from the Northern part of the country who feel they have what it takes to win the election will not be barred from participat­ing in the primaries.

According to him, doing so will amount to violating the constitution which does not recognise zoning in the choice of elective offices.

“The general belief is that the APC constitution does not provide for premeditated exclusion of candidates from elections and that is why many of the stakeholders are talking about a gentleman’s agreement which is not in black or white.

“From what we have seen, the issue is already becoming a serious controversy and will be much more serious in the coming days. Some stakehold­ers have boldly come out to take their stand while others have written to us to handle the issue with utmost care so as not to cause an implosion in the party, which the oppo­sition is lying in wait to take advantage of.

“But one thing is certain, let’s assume the ticket is zoned to the South today, does that mean any Northern aspirant who feels he is qualified and meets all the requirements will be barred from contest­ing? The answer is no. Even if it is zoned, it will be an open contest for all as long as you meet all the criteria laid down by the party and INEC”.

Speaking on the zoning controversy, Prince Tony Momoh, a former Minister of Information and one of the party’s national leaders, said it will be ill-advised for the APC to consider the North again for the ticket in 2023 after President Buhari’s tenure.

He said, “You don’t need an agreement about power rotation. In a presidential system, when you have one person to be the president, it is inevitable that if he comes from one area, his successor will come from another area. It is not a question of gentle­man’s agreement. That is understood. If you don’t want power rotation, then you go to parliamentary system.

“If someone in the North has been president, the next time, someone from the South has to be considered to be president. The same party will be ill-advised to say they want to pick another person from the North. However, it is not that if they zoned the ticket to a particular zone, others will be stopped from contesting.”

He added that while all qualified aspirants from all parts of the country are free to contest, only the person who has the highest number of delegate votes will emerge as the presidential candidate.

Momoh, who cited the example of the APC prima­ry in December 2014, said even though the APC zoned its ticket to the North, other presidential aspirants from the South such as Rochas Okorocha and the late Sam Nda-Isaiah contested the pri­maries.

He said, “It is not a ques­tion of being surprised or not. It is a question of some­one who has clout and sup­port contesting and emerging as the presidential candidate. There is no way anybody who doesn’t have any support es­pecially from delegates all over the country will come out and say he wants to be president.

“In other words, many people who say they want to be president and don’t have the support of the delegates will be wasting their time. It is the person who has the support of the delegates, no matter where he comes from that will be the person flying the party’s flag. That is the process in every political party, not just in APC.

“For instance, in the APC during the presidential pri­mary in December 2014, peo­ple contested from the South- East, North and all over the country. But the fact is that we wanted Buhari to become our presidential candidate and those who have that com­mitment organised the dele­gates for Buhari to emerge. It wasn’t all the Northern del­egates who voted for Buhari then. Many of the delegates from Kano voted for Kwank­waso, others voted for Atiku, Okorocha, Nda Isaiah and others.

“Anybody can come from anywhere as long as you have the votes of the delegates, that is what will get you the ticket. So, nobody should think of zoning and then go and sit down and expect that you will be the presidential candidate. It doesn’t happen that way”, he said.

https://www.independent.ng/why-apc-presidential-primary-will-be-open-to-all-aspirants/

APC Chieftain, Don Okonkwo, Azubogu Celebrate Okolie-Aboh On Chieftaincy Title (Pics)

APC Chieftain Don Okonkwo, Azubogu, Onyema, Onyeagba, Others Celebrate Okolie-Aboh on Chieftaincy Coronation Few days ago and just in the dawn of 2021, one of Nigeria's renowned Oil Magnate, Gentleman and a well-cultured Billionaire, Chief Henry Okolie Aboh, the President of Westfield Energy Resources Limited, was coronated with the Chieftaincy Title of "Ononando Chukwu Enugwu-Ukwu na Umunri". According to reports by Anambra Update, notable personalities including the likes of Prince Don Okonkwo, an APC Chieftain and former Governorship Aspirant, Mr. Allen Onyeama, CEO of Air Peace, Chris Azubogu, a 3times House of Reps Member and present PDP Governorship Aspirant, Chima Anyanso, a Member of House of Representatives, Federal Ambassador, Elijah Onyeagba, Traditional Rulers and other notable individuals convened to celebrate and congratulate Chief Henry Okolie-Aboh for his Chieftaincy title at his Mansion The reception and celebration moments was held at the Mansion of Chief Henry Okolie-Aboh in Uli, Anambra state. While speaking to our Reporter, Prince Don Okonkwo congratulated Henry Okolie-Aboh on his coronation as "Igiligi 1 of Uli", and prayed for the continued strenght and grace of almighty God upon him. He described Henry Okolie-Aboh as a leader with a golden heart, stressing that his coronation and chieftaincy title was well deserved. Other persons who spoke with our AnambraUpdate has several words of praise and overwhelming description about Chief Henry Okolie-Aboh, as they almost chorused his significant abilities, especially in areas of supporting humanity and Ndi Igbo. However, his Conferment as "Ononando Chukwu Enugwu-Ukwu na Umunri and Wife as Ada Chinemelum on the 2nd of January 2021 may have defined for him, a new role for the people of Uli in Anambra state, as it also comes as a reward for his earnest contribution towards supporting development across Uli Kingdom and the entire Igbo community. https://www.anambraupdate.com/2021/01/apc-chieftain-don-okonkwo-azubogu.html?m=1

Re: Okolie-Aboh Bags Chieftaincy Title: Don Okonkwo, Azubogu Celebrate Him